Know Your India: Nawanagar State and its Coins

Nawanagar was a princely state in the Kathiawar region of Gujarat, with the Gulf of Kutch to its north. The ruler was the Jam of Nawanagar – a Jadeja Rajput and from the same clan as the rulers of Kutch. The town of Nawanagar was founded in 1540 by the first Jam Rawal, who was fleeing Kutch. The Jam Rawal in early 20^th century was the well known cricketer Ranjitsinhji. The town of Nawanagar is also much better known as Jamnagar – the site of one of the world’s largest petroleum refineries, owned by Reliance Industries. Another well known port in the kingdom was Salaya, which is also a major oil import terminal for India.

The rulers of Nawanagar were entitled to a 11-gun salute – indicating that it was among the smaller princely states. As per the 1908 Gazetteer of India, the area of the state was 3,791 square miles with a population of 3.36 lakh (1901).

The currency of Nawanagar was the Kori – subdivided into Dokda and Dhinglo. The silver kori of Nawanagar was 4.4 grams – slightly smaller than the 1 Kori coin of Kutch. The largest circulating coin was the 5 Kori, almost the same size as the 5 kori coin of Kutch. The half kori (below) and 1 kori (above) coins of Nawanagar are quite scarce, but not very pricey, making them a good choice for collectors seeking rare coins on a budget.



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